There is something to be said for a nice wine glass

Jul. 18, 2013

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Need glasses?

Wine glasses are available from many stores, but a good wine shop can offer some guidance. Some good information about wine glasses in general can also be found at www.riedel.com.

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You donít need much to enjoy a bottle of wine except a glass and, perhaps, a corkscrew.

Iíve been served wine in fancy Riedel glasses, plastic wine tumblers, juice glasses and even little paper cups. All worked OK.

There is something to be said, however, for a nice wine glass. According to some aficionados, a properly shaped glass can concentrate the bouquet, or aroma, of a given wine to emphasize its characteristics. To be fair, not everyone agrees with this, and Iíve never seen any scientific studies on the effect of a wine glass on the aroma or taste of a wine.

Generally speaking, wine glasses come in three basic shapes. Red wine glasses have a wider, rounder bowl. White wine glasses are generally taller and narrower, though their overall size can vary greatly. Champagne flutes have a long stem and a tall, narrow bowl designed just for sparkling wines.

So, can a glass make a difference in your enjoyment of wine? Based on personal experience, Iíd say yes. Hereís why.

A good red wine needs to breathe, and a good red wine hopefully has many complex aromas that beg to be enjoyed. The wide, round bowl facilitates swirling the wine, which encourages exposure to air and helps release many of the wineís aromas. It also provides the perfect portal for smelling the wine ó one of the most important steps in the tasting process.

White wines, which are often lighter and crisper, donít need as much exposure to air. For this reason, white wine glasses generally ó but not always ó have a smaller mouth. A full-bodied white, such as a heavily oaked chardonnay, would likely do better in a somewhat larger and wider white wine glass, as more exposure to air can often help the wine ďopen upĒ a bit before drinking.

Champagne flutes are designed to minimize exposure to air to keep wine sparkling as long as possible. And yes, letís admit it: They also look cool.

Unfortunately, picking a wine glass isnít always this simple. Some companies offer a multitude of shapes, some tailored to specific wines or varietals.

A few years ago, I was introduced to a pinot noir glass that was all the rage in wine-tasting rooms across Oregon. These glasses had a very angular shape supposedly optimized for pinot noir. It seemed every tasting room I visited had a supply ó for tasting and selling.

Some day, I wouldnít mind owning a few varietal-specific glasses. But for now, my few decent red and white glasses work just fine.